CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
2 March 2005
Implementation Investments
New B·A·R Honda F1 Car Development Is Powered By UGS Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Technology
UGS announced it partnered with the B·A·R Honda Formula One team, to speed the design and development cycle of its latest car, the B·A·R Honda 007, for the new Formula One season.
B·A·R Honda used UGS' NXT digital product development solution and TeamcenterT product knowledge management and collaboration solution throughout the development process for the car, from creating initial design concepts, through testing and manufacturing to live track-to-factory web collaboration.
Using NX software, B·A·R Honda's design teams were able to create a complete 3D model of the car, including more than 3,500 in-house designed parts. The software was heavily used in simulation and performance testing of individual parts and assemblies, including wind-tunnel simulations and animation sequences to ensure that various moving parts did not interfere with each other. At the manufacturing stage, the NX digital models were used to drive computer controlled machine tools at B·A·R Honda's Team Operations Centre in Brackley. NX data was also exported to external suppliers for manufacturing specific parts.
Throughout the design and development process, Teamcenter enabled ongoing collaboration between teams of designers and engineers from B·A·R and Honda - which designs the engine-both in the UK and Japan. Teamcenter's visualization technology enabled all parties to view the latest up-to-date 3D designs of the car and its parts in standard JT format and share feedback as they where modified and refined.
At race and test events, UGS' PLM solutions enable the race engineers to view an expanded 3D representation of the car and discuss up-to-the-minute refinements to suit specific conditions or race tracks.
"Each year we are in a race against time to design and develop the car for the next Formula One season," said Matt Harris, technical computing manager, at B·A·R Honda. "The technical challenges in order to build a faster, better performing, safer car that keeps in line with any changes to the F1 authorities stringent regulations are immense. NX and Teamcenter together give us the design power, accuracy and collaboration ability, as well as huge savings in time in order to meet these challenges."
"I am delighted with the new B·A·R Honda 007," said Geoffrey Willis, B·A·R Honda Technical Director. "It is a logical next step for the team, being both a refinement of last year's car concept as well as having a number of significant new developments. The underlying objective was to produce a car that can deliver B·A·R Honda its first race win."
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